The call came at the worst time.
The FBI had just arrested Robert Bibbs in Chicago for his alleged role in last year’s sensational Bali murder of Sheila von Wiese-Mack. Bibbs, a cousin of convicted killer Tommy Schaefer, found himself being processed by federal authorities. And that’s when someone chose to call him from Indonesia.
The caller’s name was “Tommy.”
Authorities told Bibbs to answer it on speaker. And he did so, telling the caller, “I’m with the feds.”
“Keep your mouth shut,” the caller replied. Then the phone call quickly ended.
That brief encounter is described in a document filed by federal authorities Friday as the FBI sought permission to search a Motorola Moto E cellphone Bibbs was carrying when agents arrested him last week. The document suggests Bibbs has been in recent contact with his imprisoned cousin.
Bibbs, 24, is accused of aiding Schaefer and Heather Mack as they planned the murder of Mack’s mother, von Wiese-Mack. His attorney declined to comment Monday.
Schaefer and Mack have been convicted in Indonesia of killing the Chicago socialite. Schaefer, 22, is serving an 18-year prison sentence for battering von Wiese-Mack to death. Mack is serving 10 years. The 62-year-old von Wiese-Mack’s body was found in a suitcase in the trunk of a taxi outside the St. Regis Bali Resort in August 2014.
The feds say Schaefer expected to put his hands on up to $11 million through Mack’s inheritance. Bibbs also expected to profit, they’ve alleged.
A federal magistrate judge ordered Bibbs released last week to his mother’s Chicago home. He’s on electronic monitoring and can’t travel.
The search warrant application filed Friday also indicates Bibbs lied to the feds about his whereabouts as they tried to arrest him. Agents first tried to take him into custody at his mother’s home, records show. He wasn’t there, but the feds said he called an agent a short time later and claimed to be out of town for a job training program. He said he wouldn’t be home for a week, records show.
But the feds say they then traveled a few miles away to another residence they thought belonged to an associate of Bibbs’. That’s where they said they saw him through a window and made contact. He was arrested without incident, records show.
